In the art of fruit and vegetable juice extraction many problems and design characteristics must be accounted for in developing apparatus which is efficient in operation as well as exhibiting economy of manufacture and operation. These problems include unequal pulp accumulation for centrifugal juice separation processes which tend to unbalance the juice extractor leading to intense vibration or inoperability. In addition, extremely fine or fibrous materials tend to resist pulverization.
These and additional problems encountered in this art related to pulp removal, efficient separation of pulp and juice at high rates, etc. were addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,086,570 issued to A. Austad in 1963. While the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,086,570 did overcome many of the attendant disadvantages existent in the art at the time, and greatly advanced the art of juice extraction, it has not solved all potential problems apparent in the art.
Those skilled in the art of juice extracting machinery are always desirous of a higher efficiency of juice production to raw material production. This is especially true for the commercial setting where the percentage of output per given raw input product has an immediate impact on profitability. It would advance the art to provide a more efficient extraction apparatus. In addition, especially during periods of constant or high volume usage, the juice containing portions of an extraction apparatus such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,086,570 have a tendency to leak juice down toward the motor compartment which presents an electrical hazard and cleaning problem. What is needed is an improved method of sealing juice extractor components. Another problem that often occurs is the fact that extraction devices tend to have straight vertical sides and mounting schemes whereby the machines tend to be top heavy and relatively unstable. An additional problem can be seen in that the means for fastening the enclosure together as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,086,570 is a somewhat awkward bolt or knob assembly requiring an operator to be able to twist and turn a knob or a bolt head to obtain a reasonably satisfactory closure. While this is satisfactory for occasional disassembly of the machine, it is a problem for high volume commercial usage where the machine may require cleaning or other disassembly on a more frequent basis. An operator is required to have either high hand strength, or a high friction non-slippery contact, which is not always true. It would be an improvement in the art to provide a securing means for an enclosure similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 3,086,570 which allows for a non-rotary type closure that does not take up quite the bulk and space as shown therein.